What is more remarkable is the massive decrease in violence in the west in recent centuries. Stephen Pinker discusses the evidence in his excellent book "The Better Angels of our Nature".
Posts by cofty
-
-
-
-
29
dealing with religion after leaving the witnesses
by joker ini’ve noticed many people posting on this site seem to have completely given up on religion/spirituality.. but some have attended services at another religion, or just follow their own heart regarding what to believe.. my question is how does anyone deal after leaving with all of the witness crap that we believed about babylon the great, the great harlot, spiritual prostitute, etc., etc.
i’m finding out that i seem to have built myself a pretty solid wall regarding religion.. some people can just chuck all beliefs into one basket saying that they are all basically garbage,,, and that is ok, no problem i respect that.. but for myself there is a certain part of my personality that needs a spiritual belief not like the witnesses in any way, but something to meditate on, and contemplate.. being a witness taught me how bad it is to actually think of god in any other way besides what the jw’s believe.
and now when i attend any other service, the dark jw side seems to pop out and seriously makes me believe that everything i see/do/say is wrong.
-
-
cofty
TrueNoir would I be right in thinking you have never read a single book presenting the scientific evidence for evolution?
Here are 38 separate threads proving that evolution is a fact to get you started. Number 39 will be online any day now.
#1 Protein Functional Redundancy
Comparing the sequences of amino acids in ubiquitous proteins confirms the relationship between all living things.#2 DNA Functional Redundancy
Comparison of the DNA that codes for the amino acids of ubiquitous proteins predicts the tree of life with an astonishing degree of accuracy.#3 ERVs
Endogenous retroviruses that infected our ancestors are found in the same place of the genome of our closest primate cousins.#4 Smelly Genes
Hundreds of broken genes that used to code for olfactory receptors in our ancestors are still found in our genome.#5 Vitamin C
Why humans can no longer make their own vitamin C and what that tells us about our species' history.#6 Human Chromosome 2
Our second biggest chromosome is made up of two of our ancestors' chromosomes stuck end-to-end.#7 Human Egg Yolk Gene
Humans and our primate cousins have the genes for making vitellogenin and they are all broken in the same way.#8 Jumping Genes
Bits of parasitic code called ALU elements prove our common ancestry with primates.#9 Less Chewing More Thinking
A broken gene for a type of muscle fibre we no longer have tells a story about our evolutionary past.#10 Non-Coding DNA
In common with many other species huge amounts of our genome originated as copying errors.#11 Tiktaalik
An amazing fossil discovery illustrates the transition of life from sea to land.#12 Lenski's E.coli Experiment
An experiment with E.Coli, now in it's third decade, demonstrates the power of natural selection.#13 Morris Minor Bonnets
Evolution has to make do with building on existing designs as illustrated by the recurrent laryngeal nerve.#14 Joey Goes to Oz
Fossil evidence for the origins of marsupials found in Antarctica exactly as predicted.#15 Robinson Crusoe
The biogeography of oceanic islands presents an impossible dilemma for creationism.#16 Aquatic Mammals
An excellent sequence of fossils illustrates the evolutionary journey of whales from land to sea.#17 Belyaev's Silver Foxes
A 50 year breeding programme demonstrates the amazing power of selection and the interconnected nature of genes.#18 Fish Fingers
The evolution of limbs is mapped out in an amazing sequence of ancient fish fossils.#19 Goosebumps
A vestigial reflex bequeathed by our hairier ancestors.#20 Lucy in the Sky...
An exceptional fossil of a 3 million year old hominid.#21 Footprints in the Sand...
Footprints at Laetoli show our Australopithecus afarensis ancestors were bipedal 3.6 million years ago.#22 The Hillocks of Hiss...
A vestigial feature if the human ear shared by 10% of the population demonstrates our evolutionary history.#23 Faunal Succession...
The consistent sequence of fossils found in the rocks can only be explained by evolution.#24 The Origin of Your Inner Ear...
How the bones that reptiles eat with became the bones that we hear with.#25 Deep Time...
Scottish geologist Andrew Hutton discovered the proof of earth's great antiquity.#26 Colour Vision...
How gene duplication - new "information" -and mutation equipped us with trichromatic vision.#27 Monkeys, Typewriters, Shakespeare, 747s etc...
Evolution is a combination of random mutations and non-random selection.#28 Something Darwin Didn't Say...
A long term study of pigeons demonstrates how natural selection acts on a local population.#29 Use it or Lose it...
Fossil genes reveal the history of modern species.#30 Your Third Eyelid...
The remnants of a nictitating membrane reveals our evolutionary history.#31 Ten Questions For Creationists ...
The basic facts about reality covered so far pose an impossible challenge to creationism.#32 Sexual Selection
How female mating preferences led to some of the most remarkable features of living things.#33 A Tale About Tails
Human embryology reveals our primate history.#34 Hiccups and Tadpoles
How hiccups are a relic of our amphibian ancestors.#35 Nature Red in Tooth and Claw
Nature's ability to inflict pain and suffering in the battle for survival.#36 Mass Extinctions
96% of life was wiped out in The Great Dying 250 million years ago.#37 Testicles
The plumbing of the vas deferens gives evidence of our fish ancestry#38 The Origin of Complex Cells
How a merger of simple cells made complexity possible -
583
What is the purpose of life?
by slimboyfat inwhile reading the magazines the other day it occurred to me that jws never really had a very good answer to that question.
because it was aimed at young people and it said something along the lines, "if you believe in god you have a purpose, but if you don't believe in god your life has no purpose or meaning".
i think that is a faulty analysis of the situation.
-
-
-
33
RIP dad, who introduced me to this fairytail of everlastin life and paradise :(
by Frezia inless than 5 hours ago my great dad fell asleep the last time :( still in a bit of a shock and sad that i will not see him again...i promised myself that once he is here no more, i will somehow make my move out of this organisation who kept us all captive believing in a fantasy of an everlasting life :( i am in a tricky situation, since raised as jw, still in, married to an active jw, and pretty sure that all in my social and family circle will turn their backs on me if i finally say goodbye to a fairytail ;(.
-
-
cofty
I am sorry to hear about your loss Frezia.
-
583
What is the purpose of life?
by slimboyfat inwhile reading the magazines the other day it occurred to me that jws never really had a very good answer to that question.
because it was aimed at young people and it said something along the lines, "if you believe in god you have a purpose, but if you don't believe in god your life has no purpose or meaning".
i think that is a faulty analysis of the situation.
-
-
cofty
Premise A: The human mind must have a cause.
Premise B: Only infinity can contain infinity.
Premise C: The cause of human mind must be infinity.
Premise D: This cause must possess the intentional ability to manipulate infinity.
Conclusion 2: Human mind was caused by an infinite mind.This one is a logical train wreck. It's so bad I am not even going to try to correct it.
-
583
What is the purpose of life?
by slimboyfat inwhile reading the magazines the other day it occurred to me that jws never really had a very good answer to that question.
because it was aimed at young people and it said something along the lines, "if you believe in god you have a purpose, but if you don't believe in god your life has no purpose or meaning".
i think that is a faulty analysis of the situation.
-
-
cofty
Premise A: No animal can conceive infinity.
Premise B: Human mind can conceive infinity.
Conclusion 1: The origin of human mind cannot be traced to any animal.Premise A: No infant can understand Shakespeare
Premise B: Adult humans can understand Shakespeare
Conclusion 1: The origin of adult humans cannot be traced to any infant -
583
What is the purpose of life?
by slimboyfat inwhile reading the magazines the other day it occurred to me that jws never really had a very good answer to that question.
because it was aimed at young people and it said something along the lines, "if you believe in god you have a purpose, but if you don't believe in god your life has no purpose or meaning".
i think that is a faulty analysis of the situation.
-
-
cofty
couldn't this have been a great thread with people discussing what they think reality is and then offering what gives life purpose for them personally
Yes it could but SBF failed to deliver on his OP. He ended up waffling something vague about some Scottish poet. Then he spent a couple of pages criticising a book he has never read.
-
583
What is the purpose of life?
by slimboyfat inwhile reading the magazines the other day it occurred to me that jws never really had a very good answer to that question.
because it was aimed at young people and it said something along the lines, "if you believe in god you have a purpose, but if you don't believe in god your life has no purpose or meaning".
i think that is a faulty analysis of the situation.
-
-
cofty
God is both almighty and loving but the human mind is not equipped to understand how this is possible in a world with suffering. - SBF
Then the god of Jesus is a delusion and theism retreats into esoteric bullshit masquerading as sophisticated theology.
-
12
Jehovahs Witnesses don't know what the Kingdom of God even is.
by biblexaminer inafter a century of learning and teaching, the dubs are no closer to understanding what jesus taught.. god's kingdom rules ch.
1 par.
9 how will god’s kingdom come?
-
-
cofty
"The "Kingdom of God" is an ideology. The man does not enter the Kingdom until first the Kingdom enters the man"
These are the sort of things people say after predictions have failed.
Jesus was explicit that he would return in kingdom power to destroy the wicked during the lifetime of his first disciples. He was a false prophet and christians have been covering for him ever since.
-
583
What is the purpose of life?
by slimboyfat inwhile reading the magazines the other day it occurred to me that jws never really had a very good answer to that question.
because it was aimed at young people and it said something along the lines, "if you believe in god you have a purpose, but if you don't believe in god your life has no purpose or meaning".
i think that is a faulty analysis of the situation.
-
-
cofty
I'm a youth of God and he wanted our purpose to be hapiness. - Looter